DUSHANBE, April 27, Asia-Plus - Seat of the leptospirosis disease in the Mehrobod area of the Fayzobod district, some 50 kilometers east of Dushanbe, has been localized.  27 cases of this bacterial disease were reported in the district in mid-April.  

Davlatyor Jumakhonov, General Manager of the Mountain Societies Development Support Program (MSDSP) of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), has told Asia-Plus that the problem is practically resolved and Tajik Ministry of Health has admitted that outbreak of this disease is note related to the Aga Khan Foundation project on installation of water pipeline in the district.  

We will recall that Deputy Health Minister Nigina Sharopova telling a news conference on April 19 claimed that the reason for the outbreak was that the Aga Khan Foundation installed water pipes in that area, and it happened that new pipes were connected to old pipes.  And dead rats that died of leptospirosis were allegedly found in those parts where the new and old pipes were connected.

In the meantime, Mr. Jumakhonov noted that it was not officially confirmed that the dead rats had been found in the pipes.  Moreover, according to him, the AKF project did not include the area, where the outbreak was registered.  

 The Ministry of Health yesterday also noted that the leptospirosis outbreak in the Fayzobod district is not related to the Aga Khan Foundation water supply project.  A letter received by Asia-Plus from the Republican Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision says the commission that worked in the district established that the infection had been detected in water in the area, which had not been covered by the AKF project on installation of the water pipeline in the district.           

At present all necessary sanitary and epidemiological works are under way in the village of Mehrobod .  

The Aga Khan Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has worked for more than 10 years in Tajikistan , helping rehabilitate damaged or old sections of the infrastructure and providing farming aid to rural communities in the country.